"A Gift of Time or A Waste of Time?"

I noticed the title for this post in a string of comments at TeAchnology that I've been reading in regards to Kindergarten retention. I thought the title sums up my confusion perfectly.

I've just completed my first year as a Kindergarten teacher. I know there are varying policies regarding retention in the school districts around mine, but my particular school district suggests retention for students who are unable to achieve certain academic goals by the end of Kindergarten. Each teacher made a list of students who we thought would benefit from Kindergarten retention. Since this was my first year, I met with all the other Kindergarten teachers and we looked over samples of each of my students' work. We then met as a committee that included all the Kindergarten teachers and our principal to decide which children would be recommended for retention. At our final conferences of the year, we presented our suggestion for retention to the parents of these children, but ultimately the decision was up to the parents. I was surprised how many parents disagreed with our suggestion. Knowing that there are conflicting opinions regarding retention in general, I've set out to look at some of the research to determine if I can come to some better conclusions about the efficacy of Kindergarten retention.

Regardless of the research, I must say I'm a little confused at the proposition that retention is always harmful. I have students who are still unable to identify numbers above six, who can't identify or write all their letters, and are unable to write any words phonetically. The students MUST have these skills when they enter first grade. Doesn't it intuitively seem that these students won't do well in first grade if they don't have these basic skills already? I can somewhat understand the rationalization if the argument is to promote a student who is academically ready but not developmentally ready. (i.e. the student possesses all the academic skills for the next grade, but may not be able to sit still or quietly or complete work without constant reminders to stay on task). But how can a student catch up in first grade if they are already behind at the end of Kindergarten? I understand the push for differentiation in the classroom and I agree that some level of differentiation is needed within a classroom. However, it is unreasonable to expect a teacher to be able to provide effective differentiation for students if they are on such different levels. That would be like expecting a teacher to effectively teach 20+ children that are on a K, 1, and 2nd grade level. In theory, differentiation is a wonderful idea. In practice, it is much more difficult to implement. Especially when you are teaching a younger grade and the students really aren't very independent. My K students can barely read and can't remember more that two or so directions at time, so they basically need me to help instruct them at all times.

So far, I've heard antecdotal evidence from my coworkers of the benefits of Kindergarten retention. However, I wanted to look at some of the current research to see if research backs up their evidence. I have not had a chance to fully read the journal articles that I have found, however, most of the abstracts suggested that Kindergarten retention is harmful.

Knowing that (some) research suggests Kindergarten retention is harmful, my question is this: Are there comparisons between cohorts of students who were recommended for retention and actually retained and those students who were recommended for retention and not retained? Because it seems to me and students who are retained are often at-risk to begin with. Therefore, I do not think it is surprising that these students would continue to perform poorly as they progress through school. We hope that another year in Kindergarten will help students to become confident learners, but we can't guarantee that. And how do these studies know that the extra year in Kindergarten did not help at all? It could be that after an extra year, a child still performs poorly in first grade. However, if that same child did not repeat Kindergarten s/he may have done even worse in first grade.

I realize that my post offers no actual opinions or decisions at this point. After reading some of the actual research, I will post again and hopefully have some more conclusive answers. I'd like to have antecdoctal evidence AND research-based evidence to present to parents next year if (or when) I have to suggest retention for their child. Are there other educators out there who can offer some advice on this dilemma? I'd especially like to hear from educators who have looked over research in this area.

N's are bad, P's are good

Who knew that we started judging grades in Kindergarten? I sure didn't. Until now, my kids had been oblivious on report card day. Probably part of that was my fault, because I never really made a big deal of it when report cards were to be sent home. I didn't think I needed to, because it seems to me that most of my students were working up to their potential and the report card was important to let parents know about their child's progress. But today, I happened to mention report cards were going home in folders. The way my students reacted, you would have thought I had just said, "Oh, by the way, you'll find $5 in your daily folders tonight." They were so excited!

As they packed up to go home, I caught multiple students pulling out their report cards. I didn't really understand this because a) they can barely read and b) do they really even understand what all those slashes and marks mean? My heart sank a little when I heard one student say "N's are bad." I hate that my students already have that mentality. I don't feel as if "N's should be considered bad" because all my students who received N's were trying their hardest. An N doesn't mean that you are bad and didn't pay attention. It just means that, for some reason, your brain works a little slower than some other people's and it's taking longer for you to learn your letters. I don't want my students to ALREADY be categorizing themselves according to grades.

Along those same lines, I don't want my students to think that "P's are good" and "because I got P's I'm good." Everything we learn seems to click naturally with a few of my students, but I get so frustrated when they do the bare minimum and don't apply themselves at all. When I tell my students to "journal and write two sentences or more", my bright and capable students will write two sentences and that is it. I can not convince them to write more, even if they are able. It frustrates me at times that classroom achievement is boiled down to a letter. (Although, I see why this is necessary, because I already spend WAY too much time on report cards...this system does make it as simple as possible.) It just seems discouraging when I fill in a report card with all N's, but the student has made tremendous progress in the past 6 weeks- just not enough to warrent a P. And I hate putting down all P's knowing a parent will read that and think, "My child's doing just fine, I don't need to encourage them to do any more".

This is probably an age-old complaint and I understand the need for some kind of standard. I guess I was just shocked at how quickly students absorb the implications of grades. Let's hope they don't take them too seriously yet...they have plenty of time in the future to be worrying about grades!

I can see the finish line!

It's hard to believe that I am a month away from completing my first year of teaching. This time last year, I was in the midst of filling out applications and contacting principals, wondering where my first teaching job would take me. I was hoping to find a job in a new town, with new opportunities. However, my plans did not work out the way I had hoped. I ended up returning to my home town (where I had only applied at the last minute as a "back-up") and it has turned out to be a wonderful first year experience.

I can't say enough good things about the school that I have ended up at. I have an incredible principal, who has supported me as I find my way this year. I have found wonderful colleagues who have patiently answered every question I've pestered them with. And, for the most part, I have had a great class that has helped me decide what I should (and shouldn't!) prepare for next year.

I've learned quite a lot from my first year. I always thought that the education field was unique in that you got real-world experience before you actually had a "real job." I've found that student teaching does give you a glimpse of what real teaching is like, but it is no where near the same thing.

For one, student teaching NEVER shows how many mundane, time-consuming things teachers have to complete every single day. I guess my cooperating teacher was kind and didn't bother me with every single email/card/miscellaneous faculty memo that was passed around. I SWEAR I spend so much time dealing with things that are urgent, but in no way important. For example, there is ALWAYS filing to be done: filing all the tardy slips, filing notes from parents, filing homework. In case you don't know, filing is really time consuming. (I think I could present a relatively well-backed argument proving that teachers need secretaries.) I don't understand how teachers keep their desks clean during the day, because there are so many things handed to me during the day that I can't look at while I'm teaching and I have to just set on my desk. At the end of the day, my desk is always piled high with papers. I try cleaning at the end of each day and in the mornings, but it never fails to pile high with papers again each day.

Another thing I've discovered with Kindergarten is the inordinate amount of time you can spend putting pictures on the wall and taking pictures down. Last week I spent an hour and a half just to put pictures on my wall. I'm frequently putting pictures up on our hall walls since we do so many crafts in Kindergarten, but I was required to put these pictures up because of an art show. I love to display my students' art, but when my time is limited, it seems like I am wasting time when I have to spend hours putting art up when I could be working on lesson plans. I now know that next year I will need to utilize parent volunteers much more. Since I will know what events are coming up and what to expect from them, I will be able to enlist parent volunteers to help me out with things like putting pictures on the wall, so that I don't have to try to do it all.

Another thing that you never think about in student teaching is how difficult it is to set up a classroom from scratch. It is a challenge in itself to figure out how to arrange your room within the space you are given and using the furniture you have. It is difficult setting things up before you've ever taught in that classroom, because you can't predict exactly how you will come to use the room and how you will want things to be set up so that they work best for you and your class.

I also found it a challenge to create things like my schedule and my classroom procedures and routines. I did not realize how frustrating it would be to come up with a schedule when half your day is already dictated based on the school's scheduling of your lunch period, resource times and computer times. And that isn't even taking into consideration trying to plan around student pull-outs for ESL, speech, guidance, or PALS.

Then there's creating your routines and procedures. We talked about the importance of routines and procedures in many of my college classes. We practiced creating routines and procedures for an imaginary classroom. I read books this summer that stressed the importance of routines and procedures. I remembered learning that the first week of school should focus on teaching the students your routines and procedures. However, I now strongly believe that it doesn't really matter how many classes you take on classroom management and routines and procedures, because when it comes to your first year of teaching, it's very hard to know exactly what your routines and procedures should be. Sure, I sat down and thought about what I wanted the students to do. But, you don't really know what to expect before the year starts. Starting out the year, my bathroom philosophy was that students should be allowed to go whenever they needed to. We have a bathroom in the classroom, I have Kindergarteners...I wanted to prevent accidents if at all possible. Well... I didn't realize how loud students would be when washing their hands after using the bathroom. I didn't realize that students would turn the sink on full-force, which is super loud, then get water all over the counter. I didn't realize that other students would spend 15 minutes wiping up that water around the sink, instead of returning to the floor where I was attempting to teach. I didn't realize that students would go into the bathroom and sing (or sometimes just scream), which was still very audible in the rest of the classroom. I didn't realize that my students would find it impossible to enter or exit the bathroom without talking/laughing/giggling/touching the next person in line. All in all, I didn't predict how disruptive my "use the bathroom whenever you need to go" policy would be during the times when I am trying hard to instruct my students (and maintain the focus of minds that take very little persuasion to be distracted!) I somewhat changed my procedure for using the bathroom halfway through the year, but because it hadn't been drilled into my students from Day 1, they still have trouble remembering the new rules. So, that's one thing I'll be prepared for when year 2 rolls around.


So, I'm definitely looking foward to the end of my first year. It's been an exciting year, but definitely different from what I expected. I am definitely ready for summer, but I'm also looking foward to beginning my second year of teaching. I believe that a summer break really is necessary for teachers, because it gives you time to rejuvenate and replenish your patience. I'm looking foward to next year, because there are already so many things I've learned from this year that I want to try to change, to improve for next year and I'm hoping that my second year will go more smoothly because of all the things I've learned in my first-year. Overall, it's been a great first year, but it will be awfully nice to not have to tell parents anymore that it's my "first year!"

How do I reach them all?

Differentiation. It's one of those education "buzz words" that seems to constantly be floating around. Many of my curriculum and instruction classes focused on differentiation in the classroom. I thought I understood the concept; I thought I had a firm grasp on how to implement differentiation in my classroom.

However, I'm discovering that the real-world application of differentiation is very difficult. We just finished our third six-weeks' assessments with the kids. By this point in the year, I can almost predict what my students will be able to do. The majority of my kids are right where they are supposed to be, but then there are a few that have been struggling since the very beginning and keep falling farther behind. I want to do my best to help these students succeed. But I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'm just using this as an excuse, but it seems to be extra hard to create differentiation in a Kindergarten classroom. The difficulty is that my students are unable to do much independent work. If I give them directions for an activity, they can only remember one or two directions at a time. They can't read well enough for me to give any kind of directions on paper. So, I have difficulty finding time to work one on one or in small groups with these students that need extra help.

My students that need extra help are especially weak with their numbers. My students are supposed to be able to identify numbers 1-50 at this point. A few of my students still are unable to identify the numbers 1-10. I have some time to review with them during centers, but all the students look foward to centers so much that I hate to pull these kids out during centers and burn them out with extra review.

So, basically I'm at a loss for what to do to help these students have a chance to catch up in time to be ready for first grade. Any suggestions for real-world proven techniques that work in Kindergarten to help students?

Snow Day Without Snow?

After five days away from school, it was finally time to return to the chaos of Kindergarten today. We had a wonderful four day weekend thanks to Lee-Jackson Day and MLK Jr. Day and then yesterday we had our first snow day of the year! I'm ashamed to admit that I was thrilled to find out school was cancelled. Being a teacher, I suppose I should be upset about missing days of school. I know the research that states how much children regress after just a few days away from school. But, the thrill of having an entire day free from responsibilities is just as exciting as a teacher as it was when I was a student! Interestingly enough, I didn't actually see any snow yesterday. The county I teach in is rather spread out and while some parts of the county received a "dusting" of snow, other parts (i.e. where I live) were completely clear. So, I survived my first snow day...even without the snow!

While I was not a happy camper when my alarm went off this morning, I was excited to return to my class. Believe it or not, I do start to miss my kids after being gone for so many days. One of my favorite things about Kindergarteners is their unfailing love for their teacher. (Yes, I realize it is pathetic that I need validation from 5 year olds, but it makes my day so much brighter!) While I have some regular "huggers" in my class (you know those students...the ones who hover next to you every ten minutes in anticipation of a hug?), today the whole class seemed to have gotten the "hug bug." I couldn't go more than five minutes without a child latching onto my back, middle, leg, arm, or whatever body part was closest to their reach. It makes me smile to see how many times they come up for hugs...however, I'm still trying to find the appropriate balance between letting students come up for hugs and keeping them in their seats long enough to learn something! Ah...the things I never realized I'd be contemplating....

While I'd love to muse a little more about my day's events, I must return to report cards. (I'm beginning to think that nine week grading periods are better than six week gradings periods solely for the reason that you would not spend as many hours entering report card grades!!!!) Hopefully next time I'll be able to share some more delightful stories from my students!

Return to Blogging!

I had all but given up on continuing this blog. I began this blog over 2 years ago to fufill a requirement for one of my education classes. I found blogging a useful outlet for all my experiences and I also enjoyed the feedback that readers often left.

However, as my last year of college rolled around, I found that I had little time left for my blog. This scarcity of time continued through the summer as I went into desperate job-seeking mode. Fortunately, I was able to find a job (better late than never!), but the whirlwind of preparations, lesson plans, paperwork, cutting, gluing, and sending notes to parents hasn't slowed down since the day I was hired. As I approach Christmas Break, I'm finally beginning to feel as if I have things a little more under control. And thus, I think I finally have some free time to reflect on my past four months as a first-year teacher.

Let me back up and quickly review the past year. In May, I graduated from my beloved college and entered into the "real world." I was still under the assumption that "teachers are needed everywhere" and I wouldn't have a problem finding a job. Despite many interviews over the summer, August came and I still didn't have a job. Thankfully, through a series of unexpected events, I got an interview at a school close to my home. I was offered a job teaching Kindergarten and after a weekend considering my options (teach Kindergarten in my home town or stay jobless), I enthusiastically agreed to teach Kindergarten.

The first few weeks seemed to drag by, but after I made it through September, the months seemed to pass quickly. I'm finally to the point where I feel that I sort of know what to expect each day and I'm beginning to see progress with many of my students. So far, I'm loving Kindergarten and I'm looking foward to the rest of the year with my students!

So, there's the synopsis of my life after my year-long hiatus from blogging! I plan to post again on some of my experiences in Kindergarten (because, boy, are there some interesting stories I can tell!!!), but I'll leave that all for another night!

The waiting game is no fun...

I'm smack-dab in the middle of the job-search process. I had been forewarned that most counties don't hire until summer, but it is still frustrating to realize how true that is! I've had a few principal interviews, which is encouraging, but they've all been in the same county. I'm still waiting to hear back from the other counties that I've filled out applications for...

Does anyone have any particular tips on how to really make yourself stand out during this process? I feel like I'm doing everything I can, but I just can't help but be afraid that I'll blend in with all the other candidates...